


Law of Entropy

by Atroposisms



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Drama, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Love, Reader-Insert, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smut, longfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-03 08:35:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11528544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atroposisms/pseuds/Atroposisms
Summary: He was an isolated system, utterly rigid in an attempt to control everything around him. And it was a state he was comfortable in.Then came you, and with you, change.





	1. I. String Quintet in E Major, Op. 13: Minuet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MermaidPrincess (SariWrites)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SariWrites/gifts).



> The world always needs more Kaiba/Reader fics.
> 
> So here's mine.
> 
> Thank you, as always, for the comments/kudos/bookmarks/subs.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms
> 
> Edit: I'm gifting this fic to MermaidPrincess/MerSari for always being so supportive <3 - thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I.

It wasn’t the ideal job, and if it weren’t for the situation you were in, you honestly would have passed on it. But it purportedly paid well, and you supposed you could manage with the fact that it was a third shift job...although you weren’t really sure how many people were sending in tickets on bugs in the middle of the night. You mused over that for a moment, before deciding that hardcore gamers and fans would probably be the type to do so.  
  
And then you paused, your musings interrupted as you stared up at the imposing building in front of you. Kaiba Corp....it still baffled you how you managed to land an interview with such a large - and world-famous - corporation. After a moment, you straightened your shoulders, walking inside.  
  
Fake it till you make it, right?  
  
Besides, it wouldn’t do if you were late to your interview. Smoothing your skirt nervously, you strode to the receptionist, whom smiled brightly at you.  
  
“Ten am appointment with... Matsuoka Hisato?” You double-checked the mail to make sure you got the name right.  
  
The woman checked the itenarary, and nodded. “Interview for the diagnosis and debug engineer position?” She asked for confirmation, glancing up at you. You nodded. “Perfect, just sign in here and Matsuoka will be down in a bit to come get you.”  
  
“Perfect,” you said, repeating her, smile starting to strain your face slightly. The anxiety started to flutter in your stomach all over again; Matsuoka had sounded perfectly friendly over the course of the phone interview, and was delighted when you said you had prior experience working for an indie company, and had dealt with Remedy, Cuda, C++ and Lua before.  
  
You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves before they got out of hand. Instead, you started when you heard your name being called. An older man was standing near the cluster of couches you were sitting at.  
  
“Matsuoka Hisato,” he said, offering you a smile and his hand to shake. You gave him a quick shake, sketching out a small bow out of courtesy, which he waved away. “No need for that - we’re both engineers, not executives. No need to stand on formality.”  
  
“Ah...okay.” A nervous smile lit your face.  
  
“Now then...” Matsuoka started walking, and you quickly followed. He swiped a security card, and beckoned you through the optical turnstile. “You know you’ll be working the night shift - ten pm to six am. Most of our dedicated customers tend to send in bug reports late at night, so patches can be released and automatically updated to all systems by the next morning."  
  
You nodded, keeping pace with him as he led you deep into the building. Up the elevator, to the sixth floor, and through another security door into a room filled with computers. At least there were no cubicles, you noticed. That had been one of the parts you dreaded the most about getting a ‘corporate’ job. You took a closer look at the set-up as Matsuoka gestured you to take a seat. Fancy rig, you decided - three monitors, hologram capabilities, powerful ability to overclock if the cool temperature of the room was anything to go by.  
  
“So... I’m in charge of hiring diagnostic and debug employees, the phone interview was the real interview. This one here is more of an orientation. You’ll be the second person working the night shift.” Matsuoka pushed a thick packet of paperwork towards you. “You completed the audition project with flying colors - excellent job, really - so I know you’re more than qualified.” He adjusted his glasses. “The paperwork details and gives us permission to run a background check on you, a release for a drug test - the lab downstairs will assist you - the rest details company policies, a non-disclosure agreement, a non-compete...”  
  
The paperwork went on and on, and your hand was starting to cramp from filling out the forms, initialing and signing your name repeatedly. You bit your lip when you saw the official pay offer - you hadn’t expected so much! It was good though, you needed it.  
  
Finally, the paperwork was finished. Flipping through the pages, Matsuoka nodded to himself as he made sure it was all up to snuff.  
  
“Perfect!” Then he looked up at you, setting the packet to the side. “I’ll be your supervisor. We only have one person working per shift, since by the time launches are officially rolled out, most of the bugs have been ironed out. You’ll be alternating days with Sunada Masafumi, and if it gets too busy, we have an on-call list for you to use.” He paused. “I know you’re in college - I’m fairly relaxed. When there’s downtime, you may work on classwork as long as it doesn’t interfere with the quality of your work.”  
  
You nodded, grateful he was willing to be so lenient.  
  
“Also...” He continued. “Sometimes the company, ah, CEO will check in on new hires.” He pursed his lips. “He trusts me enough on hires, but don’t be surprised if he checks in from time to time.”  
  
“O-okay...” You were confused, and a more than a little bit nervous. You knew you would do great work, so really it shouldn’t have concerned you, but...well, that didn’t stop the butterflies. Although you did have to wonder how much of a control freak - Kaiba, Seto Kaiba, right? - the CEO was.  
  
“Great!” Matsuoka’s bright smile returned. “Let me take you to HR, and then to the lab...you’ll get a call at the end of the week when all your results come back, and to give you your official start date.” He leveled a look at you. “Don’t worry about the background check, it’s just a formality, really.” Not that you were worried.  
  
At this point, you were just nodding along; you had stopped giving a damn. All the paperwork and reading of fine print had given you the start of a headache, and you just wanted the finger printing, bad ID photo-taking and peeing in a cup to be done and over with.  
  
There was a sight of relief from the both of you when it was all over, and Matsuoka laughed, admitting that it was quite a process as he escorted you back to the lobby.  
  
Then he stopped suddenly, and you nearly crashed into his back.  
  
“Ah...”  
  
You peered around him, wondering what had happened. A towering figure was crossing across the lobby, heading towards the turnstile. An absurdly billowy white trench coat was flaring and, well, billowing behind him. And those shoulder pads...maybe your brain was stuck on the outfit, but all you could think of when it came to describing the entire get-up was just ‘absurd’. Honestly, who dressed like that? Did they think they were some villain in a cartoon, or something?  
  
“That’s the CEO...Kaiba,” Matsuoka whispered.  
  
Oh.  
  
_Oh._  
  
That explained the sudden feeling of reverence permeating the lobby, and the unnatural hush that had fallen across the entire floor like a blanket. Didn’t excuse the dramatic and strange sense of fashion though, you decided.  
  
Matsuoka suddenly planted himself against the wall. Kaiba had approached, and you just noticed that the two of you were standing in the way of the turnstile. It took you a moment longer to scramble out of the way, and Kaiba passed through. A glance was cast in your direction - cold, disdainful blue eyes caught yours. Your breath caught in your throat; you hadn’t seen such blue eyes before.  
  
They’d be gorgeous, except for the fact that he looked at you like you were a bug he had squashed beneath his shoe.  
  
You raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to let yourself feel like an ant, and then the moment passed, and he looked away, continuing down the hallway.  
  
How strange.  
  
You shook your head.  
  
Well, that happened.  
  
Matsuoka and you continued on your way after that, gentle murmurs of conversation slowly filling the air once more now that Kaiba was gone.

-

The first two weeks of work were honestly quite uneventful. Tickets came in every once in awhile, some more complicated than the rest, but you managed to resolve them all. During your downtime, as Matsuoka said you could, you would catch up on your school work. He was also one of the nicest supervisors you had, you decided - he allowed you to take decent breaks, and you managed to snag some catnaps here and there that got you through your shift.  
  
Really, this should have been a shift like any other. You were hunched over your nanoscience and nanotech textbook, desperate to cram as much information about chemical kinetics as you could into your already over-filled brain. Stupid exam coming up.  
  
“I don’t remember paying employees to do unrelated work.”  
  
You didn’t lift your head from your textbook; you hadn’t heard the door open or anyone walk in, too engrossed in what was on the page. Probably some other engineer from another department, you thought.  
  
“If there were more tickets to resolve, I would be working, but there are none.” You turned the page. “Unless you’re implying I should be staring blankly at a computer screen.” You had met a few of the other engineers, and maintained a cordial enough relationship with them that allowed you to snark with them.  
  
The door to the room opened again, and this time you turned around, wondering why in the world there were so many people in the diagnostic room tonight.  
  
Matsuoka stood in the doorway, new pot of coffee in his hand. He looked shocked. And then you finally noticed the other person in the room.  
  
Oh. _Dammit_.  
  
Kaiba stared down at you, a disdainful look on his. Just like the one from when you ran into him in the hallway - like you were an ant. Then, abruptly, he turned on his heel, walking out of the room with his ridiculous coat fluttering behind him.  
  
Matsuoka nearly spilled coffee on himself as he moved out of the way, giving you a rather panicked look as you swore under your breath. When the door slammed shut behind Kaiba, your supervisor took a seat next to you, looking worried.  
  
“What did you say to him?”  
  
“Uh... I may have been a little...” You wiggled a hand vaguely. You weren’t sure if you wanted to admit that you had been rude and mouthed out off at someone important - and to the damn CEO of the company, no less. “Not polite?”  
  
Groaning, Matsuoka poured two cups of coffee. “Better do your best work,” he said, warning you, “he’ll be looking for any reason to fire you now. Doesn’t like insubordination.”  
  
You grimaced, drinking your coffee black while Matsuoka added cream and sugar to his.  
  
“Hey, Matsuoka?”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“Does he always dress like that?”  
  
Your supervisor frowned at you. “Like what?”  
  
“Like, you know, ridiculous.”


	2. II. Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Hall of the Mountain King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, MC/Reader is about twenty three, twenty four. Kaiba is twenty eight, twenty nine or so.
> 
> As always, thank you for the kudos/comments/subs/bookmarks.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms

II.

You went to your classes during the day, persuing your masters degree, and worked at night. That was your routine, and you eventually settled into it. Even after the incident where you snarked at the CEO, you still found that you were quite relaxed at your job. As it were, Matsuoka was always pleased with your work

That didn't stop your job from being tiring, of course. It was a tough balancing act to maintain - sleep, school, job. Managing schoolwork, making sure you stayed on top of things at work, and somehow still finding enough time to sleep.

As Matsuoka always said "you have as many hours in a day as Kaiba" to try and motivate you.

While that was true, Kaiba also had significantly more freedom in creating his own schedule as he saw fit, regardless of the fact that he ran a video game empire.

Nonetheless, you considered yourself incredibly lucky to have Matsuoka as your supervisor. He had been with the company for over five years, and despite a fearful awe of the CEO, he genuinely loved his job.

That fearful awe, you thought, seemed to be a running theme with most of the employees. It was the cult of personality around Kaiba, you decided, and the fact that he was a genius (which was not an exaggeration, you would grudgingly admit). It was an intimidating prospect to consider, although despite that, he was a person as any other. Maybe it was the fact that you had discovered Kaiba was only five or six years older than you, which made him more...well, human? You weren't sure.

He sure as hell wasn't approachable, at any rate.

-

The first time he came back in the diagnostic room after you mouthed off to him, you were working on a ticket. It was one that was more difficult than the others, and you were, as usual, intently focused on the task at hand. You almost didn't hear him come in, but the sound of soft footfalls and the feeling that someone was looming over you caused you to turn around.

Yup, Kaiba. You weren't surprised; Matsuoka was right.

It took you a moment for your brain to decide on a course of action: you weren't going to let someone intimidate you. Sure, he could make you anxious, but you weren't going to let that get to you.

"Hello," you said brightly, and then promptly turned your back to him, your attention back on the computer to ignore him.

That, and he was still in what you now realized was his usual outfit. If you continued to stare at his get-up, you were liable to start sniggering, which wouldn't help your 'don't get fired' case.

Kaiba ignored your greeting, only deigning to glare at your back. You could feel it; it burned holes but you did your best to ignore that too.

Focused on the task at hand, the sound of computer keys clicking gently filled the room. You wondered idly when Matsuoka would be back from his break. Maybe that would get Kaiba to leave.

Your typing paused. You frowned at the screen; something had stumped you momentarily, and you propped your chin in your hands to stare at the sudden break in coding.

"You - "

"Ah-ha!" You resumed typing again, smiling in satisfaction when you puzzled out the problem. Running the now-completed code through the compiler, you turned to look at Kaiba. "Sorry, were you going to say something? Didn't mean to interrupt." Your tone was polite enough, even if the words held a hint of sarcasm.

He didn't say anything, only frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. 

Shrugging, you turned back to work.

Kaiba remained there for another hour, watching you work the entire time, before he left.

-

The second time he came was two weeks later. Privately you thought that Kaiba had taken it as a personal affront to his ego that you had accidentally mouthed off at him. Wasn't there some research that showed that successful business men often held traits of narcissism? Maybe that explained his ego.

Tonight, there were a few more tickets than usual - minor bugs that had slipped under the radar. You flew through them, working furiously and fastidiously, ignoring Kaiba.

He left shortly afterwards, slamming the door behind him.

Matsuoka sighed, and you heard him mutter a comment about needing to repair the doorframe if he kept that up.

-

There was no reason for him to keep coming back to the diagnostic room. Matsuoka agreed with your suspicions, that you had insulted his ego - something that had only grown over the years as his empire grew, according to your supervisor.

Sometimes, when you left the building after your shift, you would run across him. Kaiba's trenchcoats changed occasionally, although they always looked rather silly to you, no matter the change in design. Once, you saw him getting out of his limo, wearing a nicely tailored suit. That seemed more appropriate, made him look more like a CEO rather than some cartoon anti-hero.

And as usual, he would glare at you. At least you weren't the only one on the receiving end of his glare. Whenever it was directed at you, though, you would return it with a bright smile. It always seemed to rile him up, and his scowl would become more pronounced before he went on his way.

Eventually, it reached the point where the receptionist noticed, and asked what you had done to attract his personal ire.

You simply shrugged, and took a sip of your coffee. "Beats me."

And somehow (actually, you knew exactly how), rumors spread amongst the engineers and secretaries that you had insulted the CEO, and as a new hire on top of that. Except Kaiba couldn't find a reason to fire you, you were too damn good, and firing someone for such a small thing as a tiny insult wasn't how he did business. Even if, according to his personal secretary, it was rather tempting.

You knew better than to encourage that gossip.

As it were, a CEO couldn't afford to be that petty, you knew that. Your portfolio was excellent, you backed it up, and you continued to be cheerful and overly-polite whenever you crossed paths with him in the lobby, refusing to give him further fodder.

So you thought that was the end of that. You hoped Kaiba realized you were an excellent employee, and thus couldn't fire you, and leave it at that.

-

Then he came to the room a third time, much to your's and Matsuoka's surprise. Kaiba stood there for a moment, surveying the room, looking supremely arrogant, before taking a seat behind you.

You turned around to glance at him. Typical that he'd sit behind you; he could keep an eye on your work. And here you thought that Kaiba had moved past this. Kaiba scowled at you when he noticed; you grinned back at him, gave a small wave, and then turned back around to deal with a new ticket.

It was strange, though, to hear the sounds of the keyboard multiplied by three, and for there to be no conversation. On most nights, it tended to only be you working, with Matsuoka occasionally assisting you when you had the rare question.

With Kaiba in the room, you noticed Matsuoka had fallen unnaturally quiet. The two of you had built a good rapport, and often chatted throughout the shift.

You worked, Matsuoka worked, Kaiba - presumably - worked.

After an hour or so, you stood, stretching your arms above your head. Definitely time for a coffee break, as it was near two in the morning.

You poured yourself a fresh mug of coffee, one for Matsuoka, hesitated for a moment, and then poured a third mug.

"How do you take your coffee?" You called over your shoulder at Kaiba.

There was a pause, before Kaiba realized you were addressing him.

"Excuse me?"

You could hear the scorn and frown in Kaiba's voice, and Matsuoka gave you a puzzled look.

"Coffee," you repeated patiently, "How do you take it? Black, cream and sugar, cream only...?"

There was a moment of surprised silence.

"I don't drink that swill."

What a snobby response. You checked the tin of coffee beans. "They're Lavazza! Not swill," you retorted, but he didn't respond. Well, black it is. Sighing, you handed Matsuoka his coffee, and as you walked back to your desk, placed the second mug by Kaiba's laptop nonetheless. He frowned at it for a brief moment - he was going to have some serious frown lines when he got older - and then continued working.

An hour later, when you got up for more coffee, you saw that his mug was empty. Smiling triumphantly, you took his mug, refilling it. This time, when you placed it back down on his desk, he managed to grace you a vague sound of acknowledgement.

The night continued like that, with you refilling coffee for the three of you. Shortly before dawn, Kaiba packed up his laptop and left without a word or a backwards glance.

-

There was a new routine to work after that. Well, not really a routine.

Kaiba would come in two times a week, maybe three, with his laptop in hand. It was random whenever he would stop by. He would take his now-traditional seat behind yours, and work on....whatever it was he was working on. The first few times you could feel his stare drill into your back as you worked, although slowly that stopped.

You did continue to refill coffee for the three of you whenever you would fill your own mug. Kaiba never said thank you, barely ever acknowledging you when you set the mug down. But he drank the supposed 'swill' nonetheless. Progress, right?

A few days later, when you stood at the coffee bar, you saw that the empty tin had been replaced with the usual Lavazza beans. A shiny new coffee machine had also replaced the old one.

"Hey, how much do I owe you for the machine and beans?" You asked Matsuoka. 

Matsuoka looked at you strangely, and then shook his head.

"I didn't buy those. Kaiba brought them in before you arrived." So much for swill, if he had just bought the same brand. "He also bought the new machine."

You took a closer look.

It was all chrome and fancy attachments - very shiny, very Italian, and very expensive.

You smiled. How on brand of him.


	3. III. Thaïs: Meditation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how this turned out so long, but it just kept coming.
> 
> I also keep telling myself 'stop writing protagonists who work in hard science and psychology fields like you do', but it keeps happening. Write what you know, right?
> 
> Eternal thanks for comments/kudos/bookmarks.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms

III.

A shift as any other; you had your job for nearly four months now and things had become routine. Normally you disliked routine; it made you antsy and fidgety, but your life had nonetheless fallen into one and you had to make do. Although, it was probably for the best that your job was so unchanging and the schedule so steady. The on-call list remained untouched, and work had never become busy enough that you even had to consider calling Sunada to come in to help.

Swiping your card through the security reader, you opened the door to the diagnostics room, stepping inside, expecting Matsuoka to be there. Nope, it was just Sunada, working at his desk and...Kaiba. You frowned; normally he didn't come in until an hour or so after your own shift had started. And something seemed off about him, too.

Kaiba was standing, three projecting touch-screens surrounding him, forming almost a room. He was completely absorbed in whatever it was he was doing, and hadn't even noticed that you had walked into the room. Dropping your bag by your chair and after starting up your system, you approached him, wanting to see what he was working on.

The projections formed a sort of blackboard for him to work on, and he was writing furiously, lost in his own little world. In a rare moment, you noticed he wasn't wearing his usual dramatic trenchcoat; instead, it was draped carefully over his chair.

Maybe that explained why something seemed off about him.

It was strange just seeing him in his - you tried not to snort, barely succeeding - black turtleneck and tight pants that harkened back to the days of skinny jeans and emo kids.

With the way the screens were arranged, you had to walk around them, and approach him from behind. So intent on his work, Kaiba hadn't even noticed. If only you could loom over him, you thought, laughing quietly to yourself, give him a taste of what it had been like to be in your position as he loomed over you, staring at your work.

"May I help you?" Kaiba had finally noticed that you were standing near him, his words impatient and curt.

You shrugged, even though he couldn't quite see you. "Curious as to what you're working on," you answered. Tentatively, you moved forwards so you stood next to him to take a look at the math he was working on. It was somewhat more complicated than what you dealt with for your master's program, although not by much, and found yourself able to keep up - more or less.

This time, Kaiba actually spared you a glance that wasn't completely full of disdain.

"Proprietary quantum key distribution model," he said finally, and you nodded, trying not to roll your eyes. Of course, of course it'd be something as complex as that - he was a damn genius, so why not go the difficult route? As you examined his math, you bit your lip, skimming through the lines and equations that were on the screen before you.

"Is Kaiba Corp capable of procuring or developing the equipment needed for this...?" You asked, hesitant, hoping - for once - you didn't come off as snarky. It was a huge, and expensive, undertaking to move from standard cryptography practices to quantum-based ones.

"Yes." Then there was a pause. "Why aren't you working?"

"There's half an hour until my shift starts," you said dryly.

Between a gap in the screens, you could see Sunada turn around, giving you a panicked look. You knew he was wondering why in the hell you were trying to make conversation with Kaiba - and you wondered the same. It wasn't every day you got to see someone untangle a complicated key distribution model like this, you rationalized to yourself; that wasn't even an undertaking your professor's would tackle.

"You're knowledgeable about programming and higher-level physics." Kaiba raised an eyebrow at you. "That's rare."

You glanced up at him, and then remembered that it was Matsuoka who knew your resume, not Kaiba.

"I'm working towards a masters as a part of my Ph.D program in particle physics." You shrugged. "Most of us are also competent programmers as well, by necessity."

You could see the question on his lips - so why work here then? - but he didn't ask, and you were glad. You didn't want to answer.

Turning back to the screens, you pointed out a segment near the beginning. "So you're basing it on Bell's Theorem, then?" You asked, maybe a little too brightly and too obviously trying to turn the attention away from yourself.

Kaiba nodded, finishing writing another line, looking like he wasn't really paying attention to what you were saying anymore - or to you, in general. That was fine by you.

You stood there, taking the opportunity to watch him work, almost in awe (and now you felt like you somewhat understood the reverence almost all of his employees showed him). The lines of mathematics that appeared - based upon proofs and theorems that were by turns simple and complex - was a thing of beauty to you. You loved how definable physics and math made the universe - plenty of mysteries to be solved, of course, but surely, inch by inch, all would be revealed, wrapped up in a theory of everything.

You didn't ask, but you had a faint inkling that Kaiba felt the same way. He seemed like the type of person to appreciate the strict order of math, coupled with the thrill of discovery of physics. As it were, all modern corporations were built on some form of mathematical modeling, but few took it as far as Kaiba Corp did - merging programming, math, and physics to form a video game empire that for all intents and purposes, ruled the industry with an iron fist.

You snuck a glance at Kaiba.

A genius, indeed.

Five minutes before the start of your shift, Matsuoka returned from his break, and you started your daily ritual of brewing coffee for the small group. You placed a mug on Kaiba's desk - what was now deemed 'his' mug - and then sat down at yours to work.

-

So it went.

For whatever reason you couldn't fathom, Kaiba seemed to prefer working on his model in the diagnostic room. Yes, there was coffee and bottles of Perrier, but you were pretty sure he had a study at home with a similar technological set-up. Or even his office. It probably had better coffee or some fancy bar with expensive French pastries laid out. Or something. In all honesty, you had no idea how the rich lived.

Whatever.

If he wanted to be here, you couldn't exactly kick the CEO out.

At any rate, you had started to arrive earlier than usual so you could watch Kaiba work. Academic curiosity, you reasoned. And if it seemed like Kaiba could spare the attention, you'd ask him questions about the model he was forming.

It was amazing. There were only a handful of companies worldwide that employed anything along the lines of a quantum key distribution: most were large and highly secure government sectors, or massively funded research institutions. That Kaiba was creating his own model, essentially by hand, was earth-shattering to you. He easily could have the run of literally any company, any government sector that he wanted.

And yet, it was with Duel Monsters that he staked his claim.

All genius had a touch of eccentricity, you supposed.

Strangely enough, the conversations you had with him were actually fairly cordial. It surprised you quite a bit, but you didn't mind. It was a pleasant change of pace from scowls and disdain and glares. Progress, you thought.

In a bizarre turn of events, one night, Kaiba had even deigned to ask you to examine the model - up to what he had written thus far.

"I'm only a masters student," you said, bemused.

He looked exasperated. "I know that."

"So...."

"I'd like a physicist's point of view."

You tilted your head to one side, a quizzical look on your face. "You don't have an actual physicist in house?"

The exasperation turned to annoyance and impatience, and he forced his words out. "You're here, and they aren't."

"Well...alright then."

Kaiba cut an imposing figure, wearing his usual outfit and lit by the faint blue of the floating touch screens. Standing next to him, you felt incredibly small - not in the way that he had made you felt when he had glared at you in the hallway that you were useless, but rather in a way.... You weren't sure how to put it. He was someone who had made a name and a huge company for himself in high school, while at the same age you were a mere high school student. The comparison of ordinary with extraordinary.

Shaking away those thoughts, you examined what he had written. His handwriting was neat and steady, lines extremely even, and you could follow his thought process simply by following the progression of math.

There were a number of parts that you couldn't quite follow perfectly, although you managed to puzzle through to the end.

But why wasn't an actual physicist - a quantum physicist, at that - here to see this? That you couldn't puzzle out. Why ask you?

Noticing that Kaiba was looking at you, rather expectantly, you pushed away that train of thought.

"Well?" There was a hint of his usual impatience, and a tinge of eagerness underneath.

You shrugged. "It's complex, as expected. As to whether it's proprietary or not, I couldn't tell you - I don't have a reference point." You bit your lip. "I don't understand all of it," you admitted, "but what I do get... it's brilliant." Reaching out, you flicked through the screens, watching as theorems and proofs he was using as a basis march to the front, and then retreat as you moved past them.

"What's it meant for?" You asked, peering up at him.

He looked pensive. "An update to the Kaiba Corp system in general."

You considered the implications of that, and gave a low whistle. Kaiba Corp would be placing itself at the forefront of nearly every industry, and having an existing quantum-based model would make a shift into permanent quantum computing that much easier. Of course, it would be applicable to the gaming systems that the company produced.

"Brilliant," you murmured again.

Next to you, Kaiba looked pleased.

-

Matsuoka was double-checking the work on one of Sunada's tickets, and found it acceptable. Sunada was, obviously, a competent enough programmer - an excellent one really, although he had to admit that due to your physics background and the need for exceptional programmers in that field, you were better.

Then again, you were a rare find, and in coming to know you, Matsuoka knew you had only applied for this job out of desperation.

And in desperation, wanting to keep you as an employee, Matsuoka had given you the week off you needed to deal with whatever midterm proposals and research that you needed to complete.

Sighing, and taking his glasses off to clean them, he thought about how it was a strange thing to see the CEO so often. Yes, Kaiba tended to work through the night, but it was generally within the confines of the office, not here in what Matsuoka considered to be his domain.

Sure, the first few times after you had made a sarcastic comment at Kaiba? He had expected that.

But then he kept coming, and you doggedly continued to make conversation with him, especially after Kaiba had started working on his next project.

Replacing his glasses, Matsuoka sighed once more. It didn't matter; the rich could do what they wanted, and if Kaiba wanted a change of scenery from one that overlooked the city to diagnostics, well, that was just fine with him. He took a sip of his coffee, still looking through the code on his screen when the door opened.

In hindsight, considering the strange routine regarding you and Kaiba, maybe Matsuoka should have mentioned something to the CEO about your time off from work. But he hadn't.

So when Kaiba glanced around the room, and seeing you weren't at your desk, he frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Where is she, Matsuoka?"

Matsuoka didn't bother to look up from his computer as he responded, still working. "I gave her the week off to finish her midterm research." Finally, he looked up at Kaiba. "Is that a problem?"

"You couldn't find someone more competent to take her place while she's on vacation?" His voice was loud enough for poor Sunada to have heard, who tried not to spin around in his chair in horror (which, unfortunately, resulted in a violent-looking twitch).

Matsuoka bit back a sigh, feeling rather sorry for the other man. "She's not on vacation, it's time off for academics. She'll be back Sunday. As for Sunada, he is more than capable." He kept his voice polite and level.

There was a loud scoff from Kaiba, who glanced about the room one last time, and then left.

Sighing deeply, Matsuoka wondered how you managed to remain so stubbornly cheerful around the CEO.

And for the rest of the week that you were gone, Kaiba didn't return to the diagnostic room.

-

Midterms had been fast approaching, and while you had no exams, you had proposals to finish and hours of research to put into it. Thankfully, Matsuoka had given you the time off. And it was almost a blessed relief to be pulling all-nighters in an academic context, again.

Although, as with all things, the week came to a close and on Sunday, you went back to work. Sunada had held down the fort perfectly fine, although a few days ago he did text you to complain about Kaiba being an ass.

"How did your proposal go?" Matsuoka asked when you walked in.

You wiggled your hand - your usual gesture when you weren't sure how to respond. "I submitted it, so hopefully I'll hear back soon with it approved." You tried to sound blasé, but truthfully you were extremely nervous. If all went well, the thesis could then be narrowed to your dissertation, which could then lead to a journal publication. A definite coup in the world of physics and academics.

After some catching up, you took your seat and got to work, glad that it was a relatively slow night.

An hour into the shift, you heard the telltale footsteps of Kaiba entering the room.

"You're back." He sounded quite surly; ah, that's right, Matsuoka had told you that Kaiba wasn't particularly happy about your absence.

"I am back. Did you miss me?" You asked cheekily.

His usual scowl settled into place. "Don't be ridiculous," he snapped, and you expected him to walk out. Instead, he took his usual seat at his usual desk, and resumed work - something he apparently hadn't done while you were gone.

You tried not to laugh. "Alright, as you insist," you said finally.

Kaiba looked up to glare at you, blue eyes narrowed. But you found yourself pleasantly surprised when you noticed it was tame in comparison to his glares from before. Still smiling to yourself, you turned back around to start on your next ticket.


	4. IV. Gymnopédie No. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this chapter was a struggle, mostly because I was studying for a massive final at the same time. I also got tired of editing it over and over again, so I'm just going to let it fly out into the world.
> 
> I suppose, as note, I should mention how much time has passed thus far? About five months or so, as of this chapter.
> 
> As always, thank you for the support!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms

IV.

The end of the semester slid by quietly, punctuated with the occasional minor panic over deadlines, and spring passed into a muggy summer. Your approval had been approved (development of a software algorithm for identification of electrons), and your thesis supervisor was helpful, assisting you in procuring equipment and resources needed. But it had passed by too quickly; nonetheless, you were pleased to take a slight break from academics. Although now you went from being over a laptop in a physics lab or library to being semi-permanently hunched over a computer at work.

And already, you had started to receive bills in the mail: ones regarding subscription renewals to physics journals and access keys to online archives, repayment options for student loans...

So it was with the greatest hesitation that you finally turned to Matsuoka.

"Matsuoka?"

"Hm?"

He looked up at you, curious.

You were glad that this was one of the few nights in which Kaiba wasn't here - he was abroad, traveling for some conference to announce the development of a new game.

"So..." You bit your lip, feeling quite reluctant, and rubbed your neck. Matsuoka knew vaguely of your situation, but you didn't really like asking for help.

"I uh, need to take on some more shifts," you said finally, rushing through the words. "I don't want to ask Sunada to give up any of his shifts so..." Your voice trailed off.

"Ah." He had taken his glasses off, eyeing you carefully. "True, you can't ask Sunada to drop his shifts, even if he is covering for the woman on second shift." Matsuoka rested his chin in a palm, and eyed you shrewdly. "How bad is it?"

You tried not to visibly wince. That question just made you anxious. "Not horrible?" You shrugged. "But um, I'd rather have a safety cushion..."

Matsuoka looked thoughtful, leaving you in silence for a minute. "I can speak with Kurogane - he's looking for another person in his department. Head of the department that's programming the new game. There's no policy against cross-departmental work, technically," he said lightly, "Might take you on for the morning shift, after you're done here."

You had no idea what you had done in life to have gotten an amazing supervisor like Matsuoka, but you were incredibly grateful.

"Thank you," you said, and hoped the desperation in your voice wasn't obvious.

"Mmhm, of course. I'll email him and set up a meeting."

-

It was habit now for you to look over Kaiba's work whenever he came in. You couldn't wrap your mind around the why of him asking you for your thoughts, but you liked to think of it as a good practical application of your academics...even if it wasn't quite within your field.

"Have you considered a modification of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen gedanken experiment?" You asked, highlighting a portion of what he had written. "You know, Bohm's variation of it." You had spent part of your free time reading papers on quantum distribution keys, fascinated by the challenge and scope of the task that Kaiba had set for himself.

"I have," Kaiba said, "That's the traditional protocol with entangled qubits."

You wondered when Kaiba had the time to go out and become an expert in quantum physics. Maybe he had a time machine.

"So.... you're looking for a protocol that doesn't have the storage requirements of the entangled qubits, then? It'd have to be a probabilistic model."

He nodded, somewhat vaguely, the same serious look on his face when he was fixated on something.

"Obviously, to go the traditional route is a waste of time."

Right, because instituting a quantum key distribution model as is wasn't 'cutting edge' enough.

"Well," you said briskly, "I've nothing to offer then, that's out of my field."

Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Besides, why ask me," you continued, feeling rather annoyed, "when you have an R&D department with physicists who know this stuff far better than I do?" That was something that kept bugging you.

He didn't answer you, and he already had that hyper-fixated look on his face once more... Which always seemed to come up whenever you brought up that topic. You were starting to wonder if he was faking that expression so you wouldn't interrupt him, forcing you to drop the subject.

Whatever. His mind was a damn enigma.

You sighed, and then made an attempt to continue the extrapolation of the model.

"Alright, so the problem with no storage requirements is that you'll be sacrificing security - higher risk of eavesdropping, and there'll be a lower efficiency of the usable bits."

Kaiba looked at you then, mulling over what you were saying, and then turned back to the screen, making a note of your comment, and nodded to himself. You sighed again. Sometimes his thought process was just beyond you. Maybe you should've paid more attention in your psychology electives.

-

Matsuoka was true to his word, and set up a meeting with you and Kurogane. Who was...interesting. He was a much older man, with a large bald spot, and a tendency towards changing topics in the middle of a sentence. But he was nice, if a bit strange.

"Oh yes, he mentioned that you've had experience in C++. Perfect, could always use more people with the ever-growing projects the CEO announces." There was a quiet beep from the door as Kurogane pulled on it absentmindedly, forgetting to swipe his security card.

"Damn..." He patted down his pockets, finally finding it. You followed him inside. "We'll train you on engine specifics - not that difficult if you know the language." A hand waved towards a desk. "Your seat." He waved in another direction. "Coffee there - oh, have you worked on video games before?"

You shook your head.

Kurogane shrugged, rubbing his bald spot. "Minor hurdle. And we also have breakfast pastries and snacks."

The man made your head spin slightly, but he was patient and was willing to set the time aside to train you himself to make sure you were up to speed with the others.

It was basically a double-shift. Eleven pm to seven am in the diagnostics room with Matsuoka, a short half hour break, and then from seven-thirty to three-thirty with Kurogane. The pay was the same, but with all the overtime, your paychecks grew pretty cushy.

You thought it was a huge blessing that KaibaCorp had invested in such fancy desk chairs; at least your back didn't hurt from sitting at a desk and typing all day. And then after being on your ass all day, staring at a computer screen until you practically went cross-eyed, you would somehow stumble home via the subway. Occasionally, you fell asleep in your seat and would miss your stop.

The exhaustion was worth it, though. For the first time you felt financially secure, and the prospect of losing the house no longer loomed threateningly.

-

You handed Kaiba his mug of coffee. "Can I sit in your chair?" You asked, and before Kaiba could answer, you sat down anyway. He was standing, as he always did - therefore, in your mind, it was totally fine if you took his chair. Plus it annoyed him slightly, which was just a bonus.

"Why ask if you're just going to do it?"

You shrugged, trying to school your face into innocence.

"Anyway, so....why change the entire system over to a quantum-based one?" You changed the subject, and then tried to take a sip of your coffee, pulling a face when you found it still too hot.

Kaiba drank his coffee without wincing. What a show off.

"The company needs to remain competitive."

You leaned back in his seat, raising an eyebrow at him. "You're already at the forefront of cryptography and security, even with non-quantum systems."

He shook his head, editing something he had written. "That's not good enough. If I can bring about a new era in gaming, why not do it? Why leave it to someone else?"

Ah, there was that infamous ego everyone else had whispered to you about. You were wondering when it would rear it's head.

"So, even though you've revolutionized gaming - especially Duel Monsters - multiple times... you're saying, why not once more?"

Kaiba looked at you, the slightest hint of a smile playing about his lips. "Precisely, you get it."

-

You felt a hand on your shoulder, gently shaking you out of your thoughts.

"Hey, you sleeping with your eyes open?" It was Sunada.

Hiding a yawn with your hand, and shook your head."Nah, just staring off into space. What're you doing here?"

"Forgot something last night. Anyway..." Sunada handed you a can - some highly caffeinated energy drink. "Looked like you needed it."

"Hey, thanks." You raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I look that exhausted?"

"Like you're ready to pass out at any second. Heard you're working doubles. Want me to stick around to help?"

Damn, that was nice of him to offer. Popping the tab of the can, you shook your head. "No, thanks. Appreciate it, though. You're already covering for Tsuruya on second, can't ask you to take on even more."

Sunada shrugged. "She's on maternity leave, I'd feel like an ass if I didn't help out." He looked concerned. "Should you be chugging an energy drink like that?"

While you were finishing off a good portion of the can, you wiggled a hand vaguely at him as if to get him to stop. Finally, you put the can down - most of it was gone.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"Anxiety. Heart palpitations. Racing heartbeat. You don't have a pre-existing heart condition, do you?"

You laughed. "I'll be fine. Go, Sunada, don't worry about me. Enjoy your night off with Emiko. Tell her I said hi."

"Can't wait to get rid of me, huh?" Sunada gathered his things. "I'll let her know." He turned to leave, and then paused. "Don't hesitate to tap out if it gets to be too much, okay?"

-

It was almost two months straight of working doubles, and even if it was four, maybe five times a week, it was definitely starting to take its toll on you. First Sunada asked if you were okay, and then Matsuoka pulled you aside, asking if you needed to use your PTO to take a break.

You sighed, fumbling with your house keys for a moment before finally getting the lock to open. The jingling of keys brought your cats rushing to the front door, purring their little hearts out.

"Hey, kitties," you said softly, giving each one a quick chin scratch. Kicking the door shut, you dropped your purse on the floor, slipping out of your shoes, and trudged towards the kitchen. Family photos covered the hallway wall - middle school, high school, and then college graduation. Parents posing proudly. Many glamor shots of you holding your cats.

Your cats followed, sensing food was imminent, and you fed them. You caught your reflection in on one of the kitchen surfaces. It definitely wasn't doing your dark circles and eye bags any favors.

Maybe you did need a break.

Then you saw the pile of unopened mail on the dining table, and knew they would mostly be bills. The mortgage, credit card statements. Just looking at it exhausted you even more.

No rest for the weary wicked, you mused.

A small chime caught your attention, and you wandered to your purse, checking your phone. It was from Sunada.

_Sunada: Hey, d'you mind covering for me tonight? Family emergency._

You really didn't want to; you just wanted a night off, and maybe even catch up on your sleep debt. Hell, maybe even actually cook a proper meal for yourself.

Your phone chimed again.

_Sunada: I'm sorry, I wouldn't ask if I could have avoided it._

_'It's fine, I'll cover for you.'_ You texted him back, then set the alarm on the phone, and leaving your cats behind in the kitchen, walked through the quiet house to your room. You flopped down onto your bed, still fully dressed, and almost immediately fell asleep.

It wasn't a very restful sleep. You were plagued with stress dreams - mostly involving being kicked out of your Ph.D program or having to defend your dissertation in a seminar while naked. And there was definitely one of your teeth falling out all at once, too. It felt like you had barely closed your eyes when the harsh static of your alarm woke up you. You lay there for a few minutes, wanting to avoid reality, and pondered the benefits of hitting the snooze button. You groaned, shoving your pillow over your face. 

Those eight minutes wouldn't help; you needed a good twelve hours of sleep.

-

Kaiba was there, as always, at his usual time. He was nearly halfway done with the model, and you had joined him briefly tonight to discuss his progress. You didn't linger, though, as you were prone to do.

Silence reigned in the diagnostic room - Kaiba stood in thought, reviewing his work, Matsuoka was taking his lunch break, and you were....working? A frown crossed his face; the tapping of keys had ceased for a few minutes now. That was unusual. He looked over at you, wondering what had happened - even you couldn't complete a ticket that fast.

You were slumped over your desk, face pillowed in your arms. Very obviously asleep.

Utterly unacceptable.

Kaiba walked over - dead asleep, then, if you hadn't heard him approach - hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to shake you roughly by the shoulder.

"Wha -?" You raised your head, blinking at him blearily. "Where am... Oh. Oh, yeah." You rubbed your eyes, still looking as if you were half asleep.

Kaiba frowned down at you, looking particularly displeased. "I don't pay employees to sleep on the job."

"Ah..." You tried to stifle a yawn, and failed miserably, looking apologetic.

Lit by the blue of the computer screen, you looked quite sickly and sallow. Kaiba could see the dark circles and heavy bags under your eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on the job again," he warned, half-expecting a mildly sarcastic reply from you.

"Yeah, sorry. Won't happen again," you murmured, and Kaiba found himself mildly disconcerted at the lack of snark. You turned away from Kaiba, staring fixedly at the computer.

-

Matsuoka could feel the weariness creep up on him when he saw an e-mail from Kaiba, CC'd to Kurogane. The subject was regarding you. Well, here it was, the complaint report. It was bound to happen at some point - he would always find something for him to find something to harp on.

_'Matsuoka, Kurogane -_

_Reduce her hours. She's no longer to work double-shifts across two departments more than twice a week. Instituting this, in general, as a new company policy._

_I will not tolerate employees falling asleep at work, nor employees who are unable to operate at peak efficiency._

_Seto Kaiba_

_CEO, KaibaCorp'_

Great, the return of the micromanager CEO. And just when, starting a few years ago, he had been doing so well in letting department heads do their jobs. Matsuoka buried his face in his hands and sighed.


	5. V. Finlandia, Op. 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm absolutely breezing through this fic, I'm having fun, and I'm so happy people are enjoying this so much. I have a lot written out, so before the semester starts up again, I'm hoping to edit and post a fair amount. Also I ordered a Kaiba figure a few days ago, and it finally shipped. I'm so excited to get it and take all the damn photos.
> 
> Thank you everyone, for the support! And for the comments as well, they're always such a delight to read, and I love responding.
> 
> I can be found on Tumblr @ atroposisms

Matsuoka told you the news, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. The new semester had started again, tuition had been charged to your bursar account, you had textbooks to buy and more online archives to buy an access key to. One thing was piled on top of one another, and it made you feel like your head was ready to explode, and like you were ready to vomit from anxiety all at the same time.

Your supervisor looked tired, and like he was sucking on a lemon while he had given you the news. "I'm sorry," he said, "the order came from higher-up... and it's wound up being a new company-wide policy." He pushed around a paperclip on his desk, not quite looking at you.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying not to scream in frustration. It wasn't Matsuoka's fault, don't shoot the bearer of bad news, it wasn't his fault that this happened. It was just a turn of events that you hadn't anticipated.

"Okay.... alright, I can manage." You had been planning on reducing your hours with school starting up again, but being given a hard limit on how much you could work made you want to scream. You exhaled loudly; this stress was definitely going to age you prematurely. "Matsuoka, who gave the order?" You had a sneaking suspicion you knew who it was.

He didn't answer at first, and there was no eye contact.

"Matsuoka..."

"Kaiba. It was Kaiba."

You swore under your breath, suspicions confirmed. That ass.

-

You pointedly didn't engage with Kaiba for a few weeks after that. While the anger had mostly dissipated, the annoyance remained at his micro-managing of employees. On top of that, there was the addition of a near-constant state of anxiety, and nausea had become your new best friend.

Kaiba didn't bother trying to ask you about his model, although you could sense some slight confusion from him at your sudden change in behavior.

Initially, your work was someone half-hearted, as you spent most of your shifts mentally calculating your financial matters, wondering if you could manage without draining your savings. Matsuoka pointed out the slight change in your work (it wasn't _bad_ , just....you had slipped slightly), though, and you realized he was right. You couldn't afford to get fired from the best paying job you'd ever had. So, you did your best to try and put aside your worries, and not dwell on the interfering asshole.

Your best distraction was school. You were already an excellent student, and worked fervently on your thesis. But now it had become the only thing on your mind when you weren't at work. You threw yourself into your research, and emailed your thesis supervisor at all hours of the day (and night), and were fairly certain you were driving her up a wall with all your questions and comments.

Mostly, the distraction worked. Sometimes, during the course of the research though, you would find something related to quantum key models, or quantum cryptography. Which made you think of Kaiba's project, which made you think of the academic opportunity it posed you to see work like that, which made you feel like steam was ready to come blowing out of your ears in annoyance. It was a strange downward spiral - the more research and work you did to distract yourself, inevitably, the more you found relating to Kaiba's work...and so on and so forth.

You rubbed your face, eyes dry and tired, feeling horribly drained from everything. The balancing act was getting harder; the words of the journal article you were reading had started to blur together. The focus was gone for tonight - had left some time ago, actually - and apparently it wasn't coming back.

This was stupid and frustrating. Closing the lid of your laptop, you packed up your things, and resolved to ask Kaiba why he had cut your hours so drastically. That was the adult thing to do, wasn't it?

-

He was there, as usual. For the first time in almost a month, you joined him, taking your place by his side. The word he had accomplished in the month was extensive, and you took a moment to marvel at it. You saw a few places where he had abandoned the equation, only to use it later on in a manner you hadn't seen before- a better application of it that most people wouldn't think of.

"Welcome back," Kaiba said dryly when he noticed your presence.

You didn't respond, just examined his work. Most of it was beyond you now, the math more complex than the initial model he was working on. You could see some additions that you only recognized because of journal articles you had read; apparently Kaiba was subscribed to some of the same scholarly journals you were.

There was a moment of silence, the two of you just standing there, while he worked there. You took a moment to examine him; he was usually here in the diagnostics room all night, always working. Sometimes he left an hour before you got off work, or remained after you clocked out. You wondered if Kaiba slept at all, or if he just spent all his free time working on this project. He didn't seem to take a break - so if he could do it, why couldn't you? It had just been a brief nap - a micronap - it would've been fine. 

"Why did you have Kurogane and Matsuoka cut my hours?" The words slipped out before you could overthink it; your voice was flat, tone blunt. It was hard trying to not let it show how upset you really were about his meddling.

He didn't even look at you. "You were falling asleep at work. That's not something I tolerate amongst my employees."

You fell quiet, biting your lip. "You didn't have to tell Matsuoka and Kurogane to cut my hours like that, though. I needed them over the summer and... Why are you interfering? I was doing fantastic work regardless, there wasn't a problem. I haven't slipped up in completing tickets. I don't..." Your voice trailed off in frustration. You didn't get it.

This time, Kaiba actually turned to glare at you, putting down his stylus. You flinched away from the intensity of his glare.

"Regardless, it's unacceptable. Do not expect me to let it slide, just because of your minimal assistance on this project."

You started to object, but he interrupted you to continue speaking.

"Don't think yourself so special that you'd receive preferential treatment from me."

You were taken aback by that. "I'm not expecting preferential treatment. You're the one - " You stopped, seeing the look on his face, and took a moment to compose yourself. "Not everyone can be perfect every moment of every day."

Good god, you were going to get yourself fired if you didn't shut up, one part of your brain thought dimly.

"It wouldn't do any harm if every person strove for it," he snapped.

Silence reigned in the diagnostics room, and you could even feel Matsuoka's (most likely worried) gaze on your back. Without another word, you walked away from him, and sat down stiffly at your desk.

Fucking jackass.

-

You didn't speak much at work after that, preferring to work in silence and stew over his words. Preferential treatment...it was Kaiba who had started to bring you in on his project, despite you repeatedly saying you weren't an expert - hell, you didn't even have a Ph.D. And maybe it was petty, but you had stopped bringing him coffee after that. Okay, so it was incredibly petty and such a minor way of 'getting back at him', but you were just so...miffed. His comments bothered you so much; it was one micronap. Once. Just when he happened to be there, and there wasn't even a ticket that needed your attention. But he had a point, you shouldn't have overworked yourself to the point that you fell asleep. Even Matsuoka had expressed concerns about your work habits. And the fact that he was technically right....

It was enough to make you grind your teeth.

Glowering, you drank your coffee and tried not to glare too much at the people around you. The coffee shop was bustling, and it was your own damn fault for being here during one of the busier times of the day. At least you had managed to snag the last table, and the last available outlet. The lone silver lining of the dark cloud that hovered over your head.

Still glaring at a random person's back, it took you a moment to realize the entire coffee shop had fallen silent. It was sudden, and the change in atmosphere was enough to pull you out of your cycle of mentally calling Kaiba a jerk.

Oh, joy.

Of course it would be him. The only person alive who could get everyone in a busy coffee shop to simultaneously shut up so quickly.

And yeah, you probably could have chosen a different coffee shop, one further away from KaibaCorp. But it wasn't your fault that your university and your favorite place to get coffee was so close to KaibaCorp. You mentally placed that blame on the founder of the university and the owner of the shop.

You watched him out of the corner of your eye; he had a laptop case in hand, was wearing his usual outfit of trenchcoat and black turtleneck (did he just wear that sweater year round?), and soon enough he had coffee as well.

Maybe he would leave. You hoped fervently that he would leave.

Nope.

The universe wasn't in the mood to continue being kind to you; it had used up its allotment of daily kindness already by giving you the table and outlet.

Even worse, Kaiba was surveying the coffee shop, and caught sight of you. And the fact that yours was the only table with a seat available, and with a free plug. The universe was definitely out to get you. It was retribution for some wrong you couldn't think of, you just knew it. Kaiba stood in front of your table for a few seconds, and you could feel the stares of the other customers on the two of you. You determinedly kept your gaze on your laptop.

He sat down, and pulled out his own laptop.

"Um..."

He didn't look up.

A scowl settled on your face, one that you hoped that came close to Kaiba's own signature scowl. "You know, asking someone if you can sit is the polite thing to do."

That got his attention, and his eyes flickered towards you for just a second before he returned to typing.

"Seeing as you've taken my seat before without waiting for a response, I believe it's fair," he said lightly.

You huffed loudly, which you could've sworn amused him.

"Fine, do what you want," you muttered, trying not to be too annoyed.

"I certaintly will."

Did he have to have a smart-ass response for everything?

Settling back down to work, you did your best to ignore him. Around you, conversation slowly resumed as the excitement of Kaiba's appearance slowly drained away. Eventually, you could forget that Kaiba was even there, reading and annotating journal articles and drinking your snickerdoodle latte.

"What is that?"

You didn't appreciate the sudden interruption, nor the disgust you heard in Kaiba's voice.

"It smells horribly sweet." And it just kept coming.

Looking up, you saw that he was wrinkling his nose. You blinked at him. "My coffee?"

He gave you a deadpan look. "What else?" He said sarcastically.

"A snickerdoodle latte...."

"So, more swill."

You rolled your eyes. "Says the man who has a cup of their coffee, and is drinking it."

"It's not a cookie latte."

"Snickerdoodle," you corrected, and before you could stop yourself, added: "And don't be a snob."

"You do realize you're talking to your employer?"

You flushed at that; your attitude and tendency towards snark without thinking had bitten you in the ass again. Definite deja vu. The memory of the first time you had unintentionally mouthed off at him flashed through your mind. You fell silent for a moment, not wanting for your big mouth to get the better of you.

It didn't work.

"So..." You began, and then bit your lip. Okay, how to go about this without getting fired? "Kaiba...?" You started again hesitantly, hoping he didn't mind being referred to by his last name. You couldn't bring yourself to call him 'Mr. Kaiba' - it was just too stuffy and strange. 

Once again, he didn't bother to look up at you. "Yes?"

Okay, he didn't seem to be bothered by you just calling him by his last name. That's something.

"Alright, so...I think you have a point about me overworking and falling asleep on the job." That got his attention. "But!" And you held up a finger before he could interrupt. "I feel like you could have talked to me about it, or had Matsuoka bring it up with me again instead of just ordering him to cut my shifts so abruptly." There, you said your piece, and braced yourself for Kaiba's rude retort.

"Is that all?"

Was that his only response?

You thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. "Yeah, that's it."

His blue gaze unnerved you, and for a moment you wanted nothing more than to grab your things and bolt out of there. But - and maybe your eyes were tricking you, it was just a brief second - but he seemed like he was actually considering your words.

Then the moment was gone, and both of you fell quiet, working late until midnight rolled around and the employees gently prodded you out the door.

-

Even though you were still mildly irritated at Kaiba, the fact that he seemed to have at least listened and taken your words into account (you were probably just overly optimistic, to be honest) was enough for you to resume watching Kaiba work on his model. Academic interest had eventually won out over everything else.

Mostly, you just watched him work now, completely fascinated. And you started to slowly get involved once more, trying to figure out why he did that portion of the program the way he did, why that proof over another... Kaiba didn't seem to mind, surprisingly, and he even answered without sounding too impatient. It was as if he had forgotten about your sarcastic comments towards him.

If you weren't so deep within your current program, you would have switched over from particle to quantum physics, you thought. His work was enthralling.

And one night, you came to work to find a latte on your desk. That was new. It was still piping hot, and when you took a sip, you knew what coffee shop it had come from by the distinctive taste. You assumed maybe it was Sunada, who still felt like you were overworking yourself and would drop off energy drinks for you every now and then.

It continued, though, and then one night the regular latte was switched to a snickerdoodle latte.

Maybe Matsuoka? He knew you liked those cookies.

"Hey, thanks for the coffee," you said to him on your way out for a break, lifting up your drink.

His eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Wasn't me."

"Sunada...?"

"Noo...."

You blinked at him, feeling rather stupid. "Are you going to tell me the coffee fairy is real and she's leaving me free lattes?"

He looked at you over the rim of his glasses. "That's absurd. Obviously not." He shuffled some papers neatly together. "It's been Kaiba."

You burst out laughing at that. Okay, now _that_ was absurd. "Oh...that's a good one," you said finally, still chuckling. "Have you considered a career as a comedian?"

But he looked serious. "I'm not joking, you know."

For a moment, you couldn't find any words, and when you finally did, all that came out was a "Wait, really?"

"Yes, really."


	6. VI. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 In G Major: Allegro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All notes will be at the end of this chapter, instead.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms

VI.

It was bad timing. That basically summed up the entire situation, with you and Kaiba in the elevator together. Muzak played softly in the background, some annoying tune that you knew would be stuck in your head for days. You contemplated whistling, then remembered you wouldn't whistle. Besides, Kaiba would probably snap at you to be quiet.

Instead, what came out of your mouth instead was, "Hey, wanna hear a joke?" You had to break the silence somehow.

"No."

You were quiet for maybe ten seconds, at most. "I'm gonna pretend you said yes."

All you got in response was an exasperated noise.

"Anyway... So, what's the name of the first electricty detective?" He didn't respond; but then, you didn't expect him to. "Sherlock Ohms." You sniggered at your own bad pun. Kaiba remained unamused.

"Okay, tough crowd today. How about this one? Where does bad light end up?"

More silence.

"In a prism." Quite frankly, you thought you were funny as hell and on a roll today. The puns just kept coming.

"Next one. What's a physicist's favorite food?" No answer, once more. "Oh, come on, humor me."

"Fine." God, it was like his voice had two modes: grumpy, and sarcastic. This morning's order was apparently grumpy. "What is it?"

"Fission chips."

The corner of his lips twitched what seemed like a micrometer, and you latched onto that as a good sign.

"Looks like you have a sense of humor buried in there after all," you said cheerfully. And you had no idea why you kept this up, honestly. But bothering him with something as insignificant as bad physics jokes was amusing. Besides, it's not like he could fire you over bad puns. You hoped.

With a quiet ding, the elevator stopped, and the doors smoothly slid open. The two of you crossed the lobby, you having to walk briskly to keep up with him.

"Alright, alright. Last one. I saved the best for last, just for you. Ready?"

"Just get on with it."

"Mmkay. How many theoretical physicists specializing in general relativity does it take to change a lightbulb?"

This time it looked like he was actually pondering a possible response.

"Two: one to hold the bulb, and the other to rotate the universe," you said, a note of triumph in your voice. And you couldn't help yourself, you started giggling at your own joke. One of your professors had emailed that one to you, and you thought it was brilliant. You peeked up at him, trying to judge his reaction.

Miracle of miracles, there was acually a sort of half-smile on his face. You'd take it.

And as you walked side by side, you didn't notice that everyone in the lobby had fallen quiet, watching the two of you pass.

"See, that was a good one, right?" You said brightly as the two of you reached the doors. Outside, a squadron of bodyguards waited for Kaiba, two uniform lines of soldiers dressed in neat black suits.

This time, you didn't wait for a response. Panic mode settled in when you checked your watch, and saw what time it was. Damn, you were cutting into your sleep time, and you were gonna miss the subway at this rate.

"Right, gotta go, don't wanna miss my ride. You can tell me tomorrow night how funny my jokes are." You adjusted your bag slightly, and saw a black limo idling in front of the entrance, the driver holding the door open. "Oh, yeah..." You turned to Kaiba. "Thanks for the lattes, by the way."

And then you took off down the sidewalk, pushing your way through the crowds. You disappeared in seconds.

* * *

 

Apparently that was the catalyst for the rumors, you later discovered. You knew you had been the subject of corporate rumors before - when word got around you had sassed at Kaiba - but that had dissipated with time. And when you found out it was Sunada who had accidentally let it slip, well, he kept a zipped mouth after you chewed him out for it. And as for Kaiba working (or loitering, if you wanted to call a spade a spade) in diagnostics, that was something only people who worked in that small department knew about, and kept mum. For those who worked in diagnostics, the general policy was: if it wasn't their business and didn't involve them directly, it wasn't worth getting involved in.

Besides, Matsuoka was a corporate veteran, who knew how these types of things tended to work and play out, and thus avoided them like the plague. Corporate politics was a pain in the ass for anyone, and it was ten times worse for a newbie who had never held a corporate job before.

You were that newbie. And you thought because you were polite and friendly to everyone and worked in the unassuming diagnostics department (primarily, sometimes you still popped into Kurogane's department to help out), you wouldn't be the subject of....corporate rumors. Scandal. Discussion. Whatever you wanted to call it.

You had no idea. It was Tsuruya, back from maternity leave, who lingered behind one day and pulled you aside to call your attention to the issue.

She was pointedly examining her nails, buffing them against her shirt. "Word among the secretaries is that the CEO is escorting you home," she said lightly.

"Kaiba is doing what now?"

Tsuruya looked at you sharply, a particularly severe look on her face. Maybe it was those mom instincts kicking in. "Rumors. About you and the CEO. Leaving together."

Your brain was struggling to comprehend the words that she was saying; it just seemed so out of left-field. "I mean, sometimes he leaves the diagnostics room when I do? But he definitely isn't..." You made air-quotes. "'Escorting me home.'" You thought about it for a second. "Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?"

"Calling what...what?" Now she seemed to be confused. "Anyway. I know that, the people in diagnostics know that. But that scene the other day -"

"What scene?" You said sharply, not caring that you were interrupting her.

"The two of you walking across the lobby together? He was smiling."

You scoffed. "We happened to get into the elevator together, and I was telling bad jokes. Besides, I wouldn't call it a smile, not really." It was hard to not feel defensive in the moment; you knew logically Tsuruya wasn't accusing you of anything, but it felt like she was.

An incredulous look appeared on her face. "Don't tell anyone else that!"

You weren't cut out for these types of conversations apparently. "Tell people what?"

"You and the CEO in the elevator!" Tsuruya seemed just as frustrated with the conversation as you were. "That's the kind of detail that fans the flames. Rumors get out from here, and next thing you know, his fan club gets riled up."

Rubbing the back of your neck, you blew out a huge sigh. "Fan club? Kaiba has a fan club?" If that was true (if - Kaiba having a fan club sounded fake, like a cryptid), you had to cede that Tsuruya had a point. As it was, you could see how the situation could spiral out of control.

"Do you not know anything about him? Yes, he's had a fan club since high school."

You managed a shrug. "I know he's the CEO, he's pretty obsessed with Duel Monsters, he's a genius and a coffee snob."

"Good grief..." Looking like she was in pain, Tsuruya rubbed her temples briefly, and then shook her head. "Look, just be careful, okay? No one will outright say anything - at least, they usually don't - but...well, no one has to be obvious when it comes to harrassment. You're a good worker; don't cause trouble for yourself that'll force you out of here, alright?"

You sighed again. "Alright _Mom_ , I'll be careful."

* * *

 

Corporate culture was a beast you weren't sure how to handle. And today, all you wanted was a damn coffee and a blueberry scone. Instead, you got Rina for your troubles, who accosted you while you were placing your order with the barista.

"Good morning!" Rina chirped at you. You were midway through paying for your oder, and eyed her warily. She was being too cheerful. You'd talked to Rina before; she was never this cheerful unless she wanted something from someone (usually just coffee).

Coffee and a blueberry scone was just too much to ask for this morning, apparently.

"Morning..." you said slowly, wondering what this could possibly be about. Probably not coffee.

"So, I wanna ask you something."

"Yeah, uh....gimme a second." You had a feeling you knew about what. Just a blueberry scone wasn't going to cut it this morning. You turned back to the patient barista, and dug through your purse for more money. "And a lemon bar, please."

Rina waited patiently while you finished paying, and collected your order. Then she followed you to your table, and sat down without your invitation. You frowned at her. You had just finished your shift, and all you wanted - all you wanted out of this morning - was to just eat some damn breakfast (or dinner, depending on how you wanted to look at it) in some measure of peace and quiet.

"Right, straight to business," Rina said briskly. "What's between you and the CEO?" Her tone was now suddenly aggressive and demanding, and you sputtered into your coffee.

"What?" You dabbed at the table with a napkin. "Nothing!"

"He walked you out of the building."

"Oh yes, because we just so happened to leave the building at the same time, it must mean something is happening." You didn't bother to hide any hint of rude sarcasm; let Rina feel offended.

"You were talking to him. And he was smiling."

God, why was everyone so damn hung-up on that particular detail?

"I'm pretty sure Kaiba has smiled at other people before. And I talk to everyone - I've even asked Isono about his family before." It was hard to hide the surliness in your voice, and you didn't even try.

Rina looked disbelieving. "People heard you thanking him for lattes."

You had no immediate answer for that, and bought some time by taking a bite out of your scone. The entire time, Rina was staring you down, and you tried not to let your nervousness show. Tsuruya was right to warn you, you thought.

"Rina, look. I promise nothing is going on. I'm polite to my employer - he's the one who's paying me. And after that first incident, it's a good idea for me to be extra polite to the guy, right? That's all." You avoided the latte comment entirely.

The suspicion didn't waver in her eyes. You returned her gaze, refusing to back down or let yourself be intimidated. You stared, she stared back. It felt like you were thirteen again, having a staring contest. This was stupid. Plus, the whole gossip and rumors thing smacked soundly of middle school drama. Corporate culture, you decided, was just middle school for adults, rife with all the drama it entailed. It was just better hidden, for the most part. 

With a loud sniff, Rina stood, snatching up her purse. "Fine," she said, "but the fan club is keeping an eye on this." _And on you_ , was the implication. Finally, she left.

You started blankly after her. Was Rina in Kaiba's fan club? Sighing, you buried your face in your hands. You weren't cut out for this. All you wanted was to see the development of Kaiba's model in action, and work at a decent job that could pay your bills. Instead, you got caught in rumor hell.

* * *

 

They didn't stop. The rumors. But they were quiet, the tiniest of eddies that only approached the edges of your existence. Nothing overt had happened since RIna confronted you in the coffee shop. And it helped that you had a third-shift job, and for once, you were so incredibly thankful that you had landed this particular shift. When you got to work, most people were long gone, and by the time you clocked out in the morning, only a few people had arrived. Mostly Kaiba's bodyguards, although a few smattering of other miscellaneous employees were there.

Enough, though, for them to catch sight of you as you left in the mornings. Enough, apparently, for them to have heard you tellling Kaiba bad jokes and thanking him for coffee. It was unnerving, now, to know that the receptionist and trickle of employees were keeping an eye on you.

Not just unnerving. It was creepy, too.

On top of that, apparently Kaiba did have a fan club. It sounded totally made-up, but when you had searched for it online (with a weird sense of shame and embarrassment), you discovered that it was true. Alright, you could cede that he was a big deal when it came to Duel Monsters. But really, a fan club? Here you thought that was something reserved for famous actors and musicians. You twirled your pen between your fingers, staring off into space. Well...

Begrudgingly, you supposed you could understand a fan club forming around his looks.

"You can clock out now," you heard Matsuoka call out behind you.

"Sweet, thanks."

You exited out of the programs, logged out of your accounts, and gathered your things. Out the corner of your eye, you saw Kaiba ready himself to leave. 

You hesitated, and considered your options to avoid being seen walking with him across the lobby again. Option A: pretend you're still putting things away in your bag and wait for him to leave (even though you had nothing else with you other than your textbook and highlighters). Option B: pretend you had a question for Matsuoka, so you had an excuse to stay behind, again waiting for Kaiba to leave. Except you never really had questions for Matsuoka.

Both were horrible options, too obvious.

Annoyed at Kaiba, the situation and yourself, you wound up walking out of the diagnostics room at the same time as Kaiba. Not _with_ Kaiba. It just so happened the two of you left at the same time, once again. And you were walking next to him to the elevator, once again.

Caught up in your thoughts, you hadn't noticed that the elevator arrived. Kaiba was already inside.

"Well?" He said impatiently, and you came to, and hesitated briefly. He raised a damned eyebrow at you, again making an impatient noise, and you reluctantly took place next to him.

The doors closed.

You fell silent, feeling anxious as the floors slid by.

"No inane jokes?"

You tried not to stare at him in confusion; that came out of nowhere. "If I remember correctly, you said 'no' when I asked you if you wanted to hear a joke last time."

"Not that it stopped you," Kaiba replied, checking his watch.

"I had no idea you had such an appreciation for bad puns."

"I don't."

"Mmhm, suuure." Pause. "So, you wanna hear a joke, then?"

"Even if I say no, you'll tell me one regardless." At least he didn't sound too annoyed at the prospect.

You snickered at that. "Yeah, true. Alright, what did one uranium-238 nucleus say to the other?"

"What?"

You furrowed your eyebrows, frowning slightly. He was going to play along?

"Gotta _split_." You refrained from adding 'get it?'. "Okay, that one was kind of bad. Um.... oh! Okay, so, why did Erwin Schrodinger, Paul Dirac and Wolfgang Pauli work in very small garages?"

"Do you get these 'jokes' from chain emails?" By this point, you weren't feeling as nervous, and it felt as if you were back on comfortable ground. Kaiba's sarcasm was familiar territory to you.

You pushed on, ignoring his jab (even though he was right). "Because they were _quantum mechanics_."

Again, you got the subtle quirk of his mouth. That was probably the closest thing you'd get to a smile out of him. 

"You know, I'll get you to laugh someday." The words popped out of your mouth before you could stop them.

The elevator dinged, and a soft woman's voice announced that the two of you had reached the lobby. You were suddenly quite aware that once more, you were in the elevator with Kaiba. You didn't want to feed more fodder to the gossip. "Ah, right, I need to get going." You tried not to trip over your own words, and they spilled out of you in a rush. "Have a nice day!"

With that, you all but ran out of the elevator and across the lobby, leaving Kaiba looking somewhat baffled behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such an absurd amount of fun asking physicist friends for bad physics jokes. 
> 
> The semester will be resuming on 8/21; I'm hoping to have about a third, maybe half the fic, posted by then?
> 
> The challenge really is, how do I keep things moving at a relatively brisk pace that's still slow-burn, remains in character for Kaiba, and also not bore the reader? Hopefully I'm doing a somewhat okay job at it, as this is my first long fic. So, please forgive me for any pacing issues I may be having. 
> 
> As always, thank you for the support: the comments and kudos really keep me going as a writer.
> 
> Again, you can find me on Tumblr @ atroposisms - I'm always thrilled whenever people reach out, and I get to yell with people over mutual fandoms.


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